Writing Personalities: Introverts & Extroverts

Happy Friday! In collaboration with other lovely writers, I’m answering some questions today related to introversion/extroversion dichotomy and my writing. I decided to stick to the Q & A format. Be sure to read the other bloggers’ posts at the end of this one!

Are you an extrovert or an introvert?

Introvert!

What stigmas have you come across with your personality type in life?

I’m not sure I’ve personally experienced anybody associating any stigmas directly with my introverted self. It’s been more like people shaking their heads because I expressed a need to be alone. *Chuckle*

3. Do you view your introversion/extroversion as a help or a hindrance?

I think both have their advantages and disadvantages. Introversion most often feels like a hindrance when I consider the energy output certain tasks require. And as a parent with young children, I have to weigh and plan so that I don’t burn out during the day without some sort of downtime space for us all, so that I can make it through bedtime. Simple outings can be exhausting. Part of that is just the stage of parenting Mike and I are in. (No doubt both extraverted and introverted parents can relate to that in one shape or another.)

On the plus side, I am never ever bored when I’m alone. My imagination is vast and complex, which feeds my writing.

4. What stigmas have you come across, specifically in the writing community, in terms of your extroversion/introversion?

The deck seems to be stacked in favor of introverts here. Much of the writing community seems to be geared towards introverts; we might even be the dominant half of the writing world in terms of percentage. I personally have not come across any stigmas, other than the general stereotypes such as the dramatic artist or the starving artist, and most of those are applied by those outside looking in. However, we all know that while those stereotypes aren’t complete, but they can be part of the writing life!

Just ask me about why I considered driving a garbage truck as a career option yesterday. Hint: it’s not because I love garbage trucks.

5. How would you say your introversion/extroversion affects your writing? Does this have a positive or negative effect on you as a writer?

Well, I don’t need environments like coffee shops to get my best work done, so I love writing at home. In fact I’m too easily distracted/drained if I write anywhere but home. I think and work best in quiet, so that can also be hard to find in a household of six, but it’s possible to find the time. And it can be recharging for me.

6. Do you write characters with a similar personality type? If not, how do you write characters with a differing personality?

I try to write different character types. My current protagonist is so much like me, though. I didn’t mean to do that, and when I kept discovering our similarities, even my attempts to change her didn’t work. She’s just too real and wants to be who she is too much for me to fight it now. So, I embraced it. With other drafts I wrote last year, I intentionally researched and made choices about my characters’ personalities before I wrote. It helped.

7. Does your personality affect which genre you write in?

I hadn’t thought of this before. I think it’s more my imagination that affects my genre choice here. My imagination is too big and sprawling to not make up my own new worlds, so I gravitate towards fantasy.

8. How are your storylines affected by your extroversion/introversion?

This may or may not have anything to do with it, but I haven’t yet attempted an epic with multiple main characters. I’m having a hard enough time getting the events straight for my one protagonist!

9. How does your introversion/extroversion help or hinder your marketing of yourself as a writer? What challenges or benefits does this create?

Navigating social media has its challenges for me as an introvert. Even though it’s not face to face interacting, engaging on line feels overwhelming and exhausting at times. In order to really connect with future readers and be genuine, I’m trying to cut back on pointless scrolling (which helps no one) so I can be intentional when I’m on Instagram. I haven’t been on Facebook much since last year. For me, it’s about pacing myself and learning, but being content for now with slow growth. However, I really want my stories to genuinely touch people’s lives, and I dream about the day someone tells me that my book had an impact on them. That will be the day.

Do you think your extroversion or introversion influences your writing? If so, how?

This blog was a collaboration with other bloggers. You can read their take on this subject at their blogs:

It’s fascinating to read about your reflections on being an introvert… and your answers sound very much like the ones I would give. 🙂 I find just the thought of marketing myself as a writer terrifying. I’m glad we can do things like that online instead of having to do it face to face. I think I would die. lol. 🙂 But I feel that being an introvert very strongly influences my writing. I don’t feel that I express myself well verbally, so it’s a perfect outlet. And I just love the way that words look, as odd as that might be to say. It’s like smelling old books; there’s a romantic appeal to it.